[Editor's Note: This post contains spoilers for the December 16 episode of Showtime's "Homeland."]

The final episode of season two opened with Carrie and Brody bringing groceries in to the Mathison family cabin. The pair, finally a (kinda sorta) couple, remarked about how eerily familiar the cabin setting was, except this time there weren't any secrets between them.

Little did they know that Quinn was tailing Brody.

On a walk to the lake, Brody asked Carrie about her mother. Carrie said that on the day she left for college, her mother told her father she was going to CVS. She never returned. Carrie said she didn’t blame her mother because her dad “was pretty impossible.”

He was not well and refused to undergo treatment for his bipolar disorder, the disease he shared with Carrie.

“Living with that can eat you up,” Carrie said, semi-defending her mother. She did admit that it hurt her that her mother never reached out to her.

Later that night during a fireside chat, Brody offered to be Carrie’s live-in “cabin boy” and do the cooking and laundry. When Carrie asked what he seriously thought his next step would be, he mulled over becoming a builder or a teacher before stating:

“My only real plan for now is to be a good person again.”

Brody said he was happy to have a second chance. Carrie noted that if the pair were to really, truly get serious, there was no way she could remain with the CIA.

Brody said he understood Carrie’s love for being with the CIA, and Carrie remarked that with Brody’s past and her illness, she didn’t know if they stood a chance. Carrie also admitted that she was scared, in part, of Brody and the things he’d done.

The next morning, Carrie went out to buy croissants. Quinn had the opportunity to shoot Brody as he said morning prayers by the lake but gave it up.

At Estes’ house the next night, the CIA Counterterrorism Chief arrived home to find Quinn sitting on a chair in his bedroom in the dark.

“I’m a guy who kills bad guys,” Quinn said as he informed Estes that Brody was no longer a threat to the nation because Walden was dead; Brody helped the Agency nab Abu Nazir, and killing him would kill Carrie.

“The collateral damage would be to wreck a woman you’ve already wrecked once before,” said Quinn.

Meanwhile, over a couple of bottles of Rolling Rock, Brody delivered to Mike the news that he and Jessica were over. He acknowledged that Mike cared for his family for eight years, and gave him his blessing to continue caring for them.

At Langley, Estes told Saul he was having the damaging report against him redacted, saying: “Maybe I’m just giving an old guy a break.”

At the Brody house, Brody dropped by to pick up his suit for Walden’s memorial.

Dana was home, and she reminded Brody of the day he put on a suicide vest. Brody reluctantly admitted that the things Carrie said about the bomb and Brody wanting to hurt people were true. The war had changed him, Carrie wasn’t crazy, and he had, in fact, been planning to detonate a suicide vest.

“But I didn’t,” said Brody, “and I wouldn’t now.”

A shell-shocked Dana walked away in disbelief.

As Saul prepared to oversee Abu Nazir’s burial at sea, he told Carrie that she was in the running to be the youngest station chief in the history of the CIA. Saul was more than a little taken aback when Carrie said she had to think about it and that Brody was the reason why.

“He’s a man who put on a suicide vest, Carrie,” Saul told her. “That’s who he is. That’s who he always will be.”

“It’s complicated,” replied Carrie.

“It’s crystal clear,” said Saul. “You cannot be with him.”

When Carrie shot back with an argument that she didn’t want to be alone like Saul, he called her “the smartest and the dumbest f*****g person I’ve ever known.”

Carrie and Brody snuck out of Walden’s service to be alone in the CIA offices. They kissed, and the scenes of the memorial, burial at sea, and Carrie and Brody were intercut.

Just as Nazir’s washed, wrapped body slid into the water, Brody looked out the window and noticed his car had been moved.

Nazir’s body hit the water, and Brody’s car exploded, leveling Langley. Estes was enveloped by a wall of fire as a hail of raining glass and smoke burst forth.

The CIA on fire looked like the aftermath of the Iraqi drone strike that killed Issa and 81 other small children.

As Carrie came to in the office, she aimed a gun at Brody’s head, believing him to be behind the bombing.

Brody said it must have been Nazir.

“He played us all from the beginning,” he said, pointing out that the naval base was never the target, rather, it was a way to get the CIA to drop its guard. Roya was sacrificed. Nazir had it in for Walden and the CIA all along.

“Nazir would have died a thousand deaths to make this day happen,” said Brody, who continuously repeated, “It wasn’t me.”

Carrie hauled them out of a burning Langley and made a run for it because she knew no one would believe Brody. Carrie already had a plan: her friend June would meet them at the border and drive them to Montreal where they would take a fishing boat to Newfoundland, board a freighter and enter international waters, all using false identification.

A Defense Department official met Saul when he set foot back at what was left of Langley. The body count was at 200. There were 27 survivors. Brody and Carrie were missing and presumed dead. Estes, Cynthia Walden and Finn Walden were confirmed dead. Preliminary forensics suggested the bomb was in Brody’s car. Saul was notified that it was up to him to debrief the president because as the ranking CIA officer on-site, he was now in charge.

At the Brody house, Dana told the special agent who came to inspect the premises that her dad did not blow up the CIA. She insisted that their conversation did not end with him saying “goodbye for good.”

But on the Brody’s TV seconds later, the news aired Brody’s suicide tape from the thwarted bunker attack on Walden and Estes in which Brody railed about action against domestic enemies and justice for the Iraqi children whose deaths went unacknowledged. According to the news, Brody was a suspect in the blast. Al Qaeda, claiming responsibility for the attack, had released the so-called martyr video to the press.

Saul’s dark day improved tenfold when he got a call from Mira, who was so relieved to hear his voice that she decided to hop a plane home from Mumbai.

When they reached the border, Carrie explained that she and Brody would cross through the forest on foot and hike 20 miles to June’s summer cabin. Carrie announced she wasn’t going to join Brody. She and Brody realized that they came close to being a real couple and acknowledged that it could still happen.

Carrie vowed to clear Brody’s name.

Brody promised that what they had was love, and Carrie insisted it wasn’t goodbye. They embraced.

“Goodbye love,” said Brody.

Back at Langley, Saul told his employees to make sure the bomb residue from Brody’s car matched the C4 from the Gettysburg tailor’s shop. As Saul prayed over the bodies that had been recovered, Carrie arrived to his great relief.

What did you think of last night’s episode? Did you enjoy the slower pace that led up to the explosive twist? Were you surprised that the episode delivered so much closure, or were you expecting more of a cliffhanger at the very end? Will you stay on board for season three?

soundoff(71 Responses)

emma

If Brody is dead (and I hope it was staged), then I'm done with the show! Why would anyone want to work for a company (CIA) that takes such poor care of it's people?! Brody did what was required but doesn't he deserve a chance to live? Guess my "peacenik" is showing. Too much death.....maybe that's the point. Stop the war on foreign soil. Take care of our soldiers and all others on our shores. Put our energy into healing our country/soldiers. But I guess that's not "good TV".

On the other hand, where could the story go if Brody is still alive, same old same old running. But who cares if Carrie transfers to Istanbul, unless she left her meds at home, and has fits after fits to keep the show going.

i ordered the season in blue ray. was enjoying the series until they brought in an msnbc person to interview brodie. then in episode 9 it took the typical pc liberal bs and never mentioned the fact that these so called people over there are still hunting down christians, that they are still running around with swords and beheading folks in the name of god, that they are hiding behind their women and children and that they will never stop. i took and threw the whole series in the garbage, what a crock!!!!

i think peter quinn did this...when he was at the cabin ready to take out brody, he oddly decided not to, than sat down and ate that can of tuna in the dark and looked like he was trying to figure out wht to do...quinn was the only one not around at all for that episode. i think this was his way of framing brody and not directly hurting carrie, who i think he is in love with...i think he cooked up this way of getting rid of brody but not killing him for carrie's sake...this is it, i know it...

Quinn only kills bad guys. Do you think he would commit an act of terror in the name of love instead of just killing Brodie? Nah I think the writers will add a new terrorist next season and show his connection to nazir.

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Finally just caught up on Homeland. Love the show but there are a few things about the last episode that are hard to overlook even though it is just a television program. Given that there are bomb-sniffing dogs and constant vehicle inspections, even a congressman could not drive a carload of C4 into the CIA headquarters. Plus, after the explosion, wouldn't there have been an immediate lock down? How would could anyone escape the facility? Also, I do agree that there is no way Brody could have gotten past every security camera in the VP's house. One camera had to see him giving out the numbers of the pacemaker controls over his cell phone. I LOVE the show though and hope they can find a way to deal with these obvious oversights.

This is the first season that I have watched "Homeland" and Loved it!!!! I did like the ending and can't wait for the next season. It was a cliff-hanger, but in a good way! Excellent show! My favorite!

The first season of Homeland was great stuff. This season, while still superbly done, began veering in the direction of "24", where the implausible was a weekly event. However, I am now interested in seeing if Carrie really will and can clear Brody's name. I am also curious to see how the writers will continue to keep Brody's family in the loop. Morena Baccarin and Morgan Saylor are terrific on this show, and their story keeps it grounded in a reality we can all relate to.

never occurred to me that it could be Sauplease...Mandy Platinum never stays on a show for more than a few years. so could be the most likely one to leave the show. great finale but it did start off slow and kinda seemed awkward between Carrie and Brody.

I'm kind of tired of Carrie going off the rails to the extent she does every week. Yes, she does snap back just in time to do something really smart and heroic, but she's either a good agent with a disease that she manages most of the time, or she's too unstable to be walking the halls of the CIA as freely as she does. The show seems to want it both ways, but that won't make sense for long. Carrie does portray the manic personality very well, almost too well – kinda hard to watch sometime, especially when it happens so often.

I totally agree about Carrie's on/off "sanity"...I'm actually getting really sick of her character. The other character I cannot stand AT ALL is Brody's daughter. From her clothes (what in heaven are those boots she has on all the time???) to her snitty little personality, she's just too difficult for me to stomach, so therefore, I am never watching the show again !

the writers / producers have left a lot of options for themselves for season 3 . . . the plot and characters can really go in a lot of different directions and it doesn't seem like they decided yet ... maximizing their leverage with their actors in season 3 negotiations!

Obvious -when Brody approaches the outside of the CIA Building for the memorial he has the keyes in his right hand and shakes hands with one of two officers outside whih have no storyline explanation of why they are there or in the plot. He simply says, "Sir" and nods. You can even hear the keys jingle then. Then after the explosion Carrie – supposedly the best operative never even asks him where his keys are after he said the car had been moved. How do yo move a car, Sherlock? Brody is still a terrorist and it was all planned. Either that or the writers put that in there just to sway us.

I think that you all misssed the pont. Even the summary above missed the cliffhanger. The smile on Saul's face at the end was the key. It pains me to say it but HE is responsible and HE has been the mole all along. Why I have no idea and because I like him it is painful to watch.

I'm with you that the summary above missed the point of Saul's smile. I thought it was a mixture of relief that Carrie is still alive with regret about the sort of investigation to which he will have to subject her since her association with Brody puts her loyalties and reliability in question.

The idea that Saul may be the mole had not occurred to me. I was kind of dozing during the episode in which Saul is in custody, so I missed what was in the report on which his detention was based. I'll have to watch that episode again when I'm more awake.

It will be interesting to see how next season plays out. Right now it looks like the plot lines may be a comb of The Fugitive and 24 with Brody on the run and Carrie's loyalties in question.

Its def Saul the mole, have said it since series 1 when I thought it was him who slipped the razor blade to the captive, it all makes sense he didnt want Brody assassinated so he could pin the blame to the bombing on him

Could be Saul... Would be really sad. But I still want to know how the reporter got the combination to Estes' safe for Brody to get into. What ever happened to names Brody got from the safe? Also.. How did Nazir know where walden kept his pacemaker box?

I don't believe that a sane person could kill hundreds of his colleagues in a place he has worked his whole life. We have no reason to believe Saul is unstable. If he has calculated an action as a mole, what is his motivation. He is a devout Jew. It is hard to believe he would be in league w Nassir. Maybe this is devious plot with Israeli intelligence to bring America into war with Iran, but that is really far fetched too. I think it is Quinn and a power play between CIA and Black ops for next year.

What a GREAT season ending. In a time where reality TV rules, this in my eyes is one of the best shows on TV, next to Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Damages, The Good Wife and Justified. There are a lot of things you would say that would make you think, how could of they got away with that. Then I turn on the news and almost cry to see what happen in reality. Sandy this year, BP, Pauls Boughou NJ, etc.... *hit happes and there is caladeral damage. Off my rant, GREAT show. Can't wait for Season 3.

It was Brody. It has been the entire time, all part of Nazir's grand plan. There is of course; a mole within the CIA that moved Brody's car, in order to deflect attention away from him. Brody and Nazir, used Carrie's love for Nick to carry out this plan, to knock off the VP and then the ultimate prize. Blowing up the CIA HQ, thus crippling the U.S intelligence ability. Brody will make it overseas and take over for Nazir. Saul, Carrie and a now distraught Quinn, will be left to pick up the pieces.

just watched the final three shows tonight, is it me or doesnt anyone question why in a vice presidents office there are no survelilance cameras, i mean come on people, wouldnt security be curious about how the VP died even if it was from a heart attack, hard to believe that someone could get in the VP's office and be there while and when he dies and no one looks into it? Really?